New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) In a major administrative shake-up ahead of the 2026/27 domestic season, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has overhauled its senior men’s coaching staff and named former left-arm seamer Amit Uniyal as the new head coach in place of Sandeep Sharma.
Alongside Uniyal, the PCA appointed TP Singh as the batting coach, Harmeet Singh as the bowling coach, and Manish Sharma as the fielding coach. They replace Uday Kaul, Gagandeep Singh, and Sandeep Sanwal, respectively.
Uniyal, who represented Punjab in 29 First-Class and 46 List A matches, represented Rajasthan Royals in 2009 IPL. He now becomes Punjab’s fourth head coach in four seasons following short stints by Aavishkar Salvi, Wasim Jaffer, and Sandeep Sharma.
The overhaul comes on the back of Punjab’s persistent struggles in red-ball cricket. While the side lifted the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy in 2023/24, their Ranji Trophy record has been dismal, securing just three wins against ten losses across the last three seasons.
“Since everyone wants to play in the IPL nowadays, they focus more on T20 cricket. But we have the potential, we have the talent, all we need is to play as a unit. We want to do better in red-ball cricket this time, and for that, you need bowlers who can take 20 wickets. So we will work towards that,” Uniyal was quoted as saying by Cricinfo on Saturday.
Since the end of his playing days, Uniyal has been part of various coaching set-ups and selection committees for Chandigarh. He was their assistant coach in the 2020/21 season and then chairman of selectors last season.
Addressing last season’s selection instability, where Punjab fielded a staggering 27 players and used three different captains, including Shubman Gill leading them in one Ranji Trophy game, Uniyal emphasised on giving players a fair run. PCA has also named a new senior men’s selection committee, to be headed by Gaurav Gupta.
“I don’t know what happened last season. But obviously when the team is not winning, the changes are more. I just want us to play tough cricket without any fear of losing one’s spot. If someone gets picked, he will get a proper opportunity,” he added.
–IANS
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